Search ChatGPT, the OpenAI AI-powered internet search engine, is now available to all ChatGPT users – with several up-to-date features.
By default, ChatGPT automatically determines which questions to be routed by the ChatGPT search engine. Users can also click on the up-to-date “Search Internet” icon in the ChatGPT interface. The ChatGPT search engine shows summarized responses from various online sources, as well as “rich” content such as embedded photos and YouTube videos.
The ChatGPT search engine launched in October as an evolution of OpenAI’s SearchGPT prototype unveiled this summer. ChatGPT search engine, powered by an enhanced version of OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, displays information from the Internet – such as sports scores, news, stock quotes and more – along with links to relevant sources where users can inquire about tracking: ask questions to narrow down search.
ChatGPT Search was initially only available to ChatGPT premium subscribers. Now non-paying users also have access to it.
ChatGPT search has also been “speeded up,” OpenAI announced during its Monday livestream, and can now be set as the default search engine in any web browser. Additionally, an improved ChatGPT search engine is available for mobile devices. On mobile devices, users can now see, for example, better organized business information, including addresses (in Apple Maps in the ChatGPT iOS app) and phone numbers.
Finally, ChatGPT search is now available in Advanced Voice Mode, OpenAI’s real-time conversation feature for ChatGPT. In the coming days, users will be able to access live online information using advanced voice mode on their mobile phone or desktop computer.
My colleague Max Zeff found ChatGPT Search to be a mistake when he tested it earlier this year. However, OpenAI clearly intends to improve this feature, seeing it as a key development path.
Some publishers protest against AI-powered search tools such as ChatGPT Search, Perplexity and Google AI Reviews, saying they risk cannibalizing traffic to the sites they source their information from. One study found that AI reviews alone can negatively impacting approximately 25% of publisher traffic due to the reduced emphasis on website links.
OpenAI says it has taken into account partner feedback on how the ChatGPT search engine decides which articles are most relevant to a query, as well as determines the length of article summaries and citations.